Timas Mom wrote: You don't get a great food with any decent quality protein for $30 for 40lbs......thats like 20 cents a lb cost to make ( and thats being really generous!)..what do you really think you are going to get for 20 cents? The packaging costs more than the food!!!

Agreed. I am feeding Horizon Legacy and Amicus at the moment (Horizon), what is your opinion on this food?

They are a great food. No recalls, own their own plant and use excellent to good ingredients and are not expensive.

And to say that someone should feed their dog a Diamond food is not rude or mean. When a company has several recalls and makes pets sick it IS NOT A GOOD COMPANY!!!! therefor it is not good food. Its not just 1 time, its several!!!

There are many decent foods that dont cost alot of money. Like Horizon Legacy, Amicus, and Pulsar. Acana is decently priced too as being 65% meat you feed much less than something like Kirkland or TOTW.

Feeding your dogs a "crap food" means more vet bills and a less healthy pet. If it has ingredients you wont eat or you dont know what it is you shouldnt feed it to your pet. Its like saying "well at least I feed my kids! its mcdonalds and kraft dinner but I love them and its fine" Have you seen Supersize Me?No its not fine....not at all.....

Timas Mom wrote: You don't get a great food with any decent quality protein for $30 for 40lbs......thats like 20 cents a lb cost to make ( and thats being really generous!)..what do you really think you are going to get for 20 cents? The packaging costs more than the food!!!

Agreed. I am feeding Horizon Legacy and Amicus at the moment (Horizon), what is your opinion on this food?

They are a great food. No recalls, own their own plant and use excellent to good ingredients and are not expensive.

And to say that someone should feed their dog a Diamond food is not rude or mean. When a company has several recalls and makes pets sick it IS NOT A GOOD COMPANY!!!! therefor it is not good food. Its not just 1 time, its several!!!

There are many decent foods that dont cost alot of money. Like Horizon Legacy, Amicus, and Pulsar. Acana is decently priced too as being 65% meat you feed much less than something like Kirkland or TOTW.

Feeding your dogs a "crap food" means more vet bills and a less healthy pet. If it has ingredients you wont eat or you dont know what it is you shouldnt feed it to your pet. Its like saying "well at least I feed my kids! its mcdonalds and kraft dinner but I love them and its fine" Have you seen Supersize Me?No its not fine....not at all.....

I never said that saying something shouldn't buy Diamond is rude or mean...i said it is rude and mean to say someone shouldn't own dogs if they feed diamond. Which is ridiculous and ignorant. There are plenty of companies who have recalls, and bottom line, my food is still healthy and nutritious. My dogs still thrive and have great skin, teeth, coats and bones and organs. My parents, who feed their dogs Purina, never have to go to the vet. Some dogs do well on "crap" food. My parents have tried to feed a higher quality and the dogs did horrible on it. Purina works for them. If that means to you that they shouldn't own animals well then, your opinion is pretty ridiculous. I feed TOTW and do not plan to stop. If you think that means I am a bad owner, I think it's time you got off your high horse. I didn't have a problem with people speaking against Diamond, but when you call someone a bad owner for it, that's passing the line.

Feeding your dogs a "crap food" means more vet bills and a less healthy pet.

I don't agree with this. My mom and dad's dog lived to be 19 eating kibbles n bits. No health problems, not even allergies. I have fed my dogs all "good" food and have yet to have one make it to that age. I agree with a good diet, but to put that statement out there is just wrong.

Feeding your dogs a "crap food" means more vet bills and a less healthy pet.

I don't agree with this. My mom and dad's dog lived to be 19 eating kibbles n bits. No health problems, not even allergies. I have fed my dogs all "good" food and have yet to have one make it to that age. I agree with a good diet, but to put that statement out there is just wrong.

I agree with Julie. I see dogs come in for chronic issues, multiple issues who are on "premium" foods, and I see dogs who only come in once yearly who eat Beneful and look fantastic.

Like Julie said, good food is important but low quality food doesn't automatically equal an unhealthy dog.

Celesteandthebullies wrote:I don't think people should take on animals if they cannot afford to feed them proper nutrition. Would it not be irresponsible to have a kid and only afford top ramen?

Dogs didn't ask to be brought into our lives. We brought them. I want them to live healthily, not lose a few years off their life.

If you can't afford quality food, then you're going to be screwed if a surprise vet bill comes along.

I'm iffy/okayish with Kirkland for low income,but, if possible better food should be given. Ain't going to change now obviously, but one should take if as a lesson for future dogs.

Sorry, I don't like sugar coating.

I agree with this in a way, but whether Diamond brands are good quality food is a matter of opinion, not fact. To say that someone shouldn't have dogs because they feed their dogs TOTW or Kirkland is an extremely ignorant and idiotic statement to make. Also, some dogs do just as well on crap food as they do on high quality. My parents feed their dogs Purina, and they do excell. Anything else makes them sick and my parents take great care of their dogs.

Why are you saying this to me? ... I feed my dogs TOTW. Maybe you got me confused with someone else?

Another thing to mention, not all dogs do well on high protein foods that are considered the highest quality. My Jaka could never handle rich foods like that, they always gave him gas and soft stools. But he does perfectly fine with medium/good quality rice based foods, right now he's eating Dog Lovers Gold and he does fantastic on it, probably the best he ever did on any other food. The same goes for my mom's dogs (who are highly allergic to wheat), they are on the same food and do great on it, but grain free foods gave them diarrhea. The only dog out of four who can handle high protein grain free foods is Brina, she's usually on Acana Pacifica, but since she's the laziest dog there is, she doesn't really need all that fat, in winter months when she's really doing nothing else than sleeping, I have to switch her to Acana Light&Fit otherwise she gains weight.

I think everybody should feed the food their dog does best on and do their best to avoid the really crappy foods. There are many websites that help you understand which foods are great, good, medium or bad quality:

Enigma wrote:Another thing to mention, not all dogs do well on high protein foods that are considered the highest quality. My Jaka could never handle rich foods like that, they always gave him gas and soft stools. But he does perfectly fine with medium/good quality rice based foods, right now he's eating Dog Lovers Gold and he does fantastic on it, probably the best he ever did on any other food. The same goes for my mom's dogs (who are highly allergic to wheat), they are on the same food and do great on it, but grain free foods gave them diarrhea. The only dog out of four who can handle high protein grain free foods is Brina, she's usually on Acana Pacifica, but since she's the laziest dog there is, she doesn't really need all that fat, in winter months when she's really doing nothing else than sleeping, I have to switch her to Acana Light&Fit otherwise she gains weight.

I think everybody should feed the food their dog does best on and do their best to avoid the really crappy foods. There are many websites that help you understand which foods are great, good, medium or bad quality:

One of our local vets(the one that seems to know a lot more about nutrition) also said that high protein diets can harm a inactive dog's kidneys over time. I don't know if it's true of course, but I makes sense.

Celesteandthebullies wrote:One of our local vets(the one that seems to know a lot more about nutrition) also said that high protein diets can harm a inactive dog's kidneys over time. I don't know if it's true of course, but I makes sense.

Yup, I've read that too, that's why I switched Brina from Orijen to Acana, she doesn't need such a high protein food. But I do keep her on grain free foods because of her mast cell cancer.

One question... What's iffy with Kirkland (if you ignore the fact it's made by Diamond)? Dog Food Advisor rates it as a 4 star food.

Ok, your standards, I can relate to that since I have similar standards when it comes to dog food. But standards like that go out the window when you have a dog who does poorly on foods that are considered the best quality. If I learned anything from my own dog and our battle with digestion problems and chronic anal gland infections (which led to surgical removal) is that you should ALWAYS go by what is best for your own dog and not listen to people trying to brainwash you to think you're feeding your dog crap just because it's not a 5 star grain free high protein dog food. Or raw, it's the same with raw feeders.

And another thing... Grain free foods have been imported to our country just a couple of years ago, here foods like Purina Pro Plan, Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Tehni-Cal and similar foods are still considered very high quality, most dog owners feed them and dogs do well on them. Go figure.

So yeah, I can agree with having high standars and feeding your dog the best food possible, but I think saying that 4 star dog foods or even some of the 3 star dog foods are total crap and people who feed them shouldn't own dogs is going a bit too far IMO.

And people feeding the really crappy foods like Dog Chow and Pedigree sometimes just need some educating since feeding foods like that is rarely really a cheaper option.

Ok, your standards, I can relate to that since I have similar standards when it comes to dog food. But standards like that go out the window when you have a dog who does poorly on foods that are considered the best quality. If I learned anything from my own dog and our battle with digestion problems and chronic anal gland infections (which led to surgical removal) is that you should ALWAYS go by what is best for your own dog and not listen to people trying to brainwash you to think you're feeding your dog crap just because it's not a 5 star grain free high protein dog food. Or raw, it's the same with raw feeders.

And another thing... Grain free foods have been imported to our country just a couple of years ago, here foods like Purina Pro Plan, Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Tehni-Cal and similar foods are still considered very high quality, most dog owners feed them and dogs do well on them. Go figure.

So yeah, I can agree with having high standars and feeding your dog the best food possible, but I think saying that 4 star dog foods or even some of the 3 star dog foods are total crap and people who feed them shouldn't own dogs is going a bit too far IMO.

And people feeding the really crappy foods like Dog Chow and Pedigree sometimes just need some educating since feeding foods like that is rarely really a cheaper option.

Good post!

I tried a lot of the foods people call high quality with my pets (Merrick, Fromm, Acana, Origin, Go, Felidae, etc.) and they did horrible on them. I've been using Royal Canin for the past year and everyone is doing amazing. I get lectured all the time about there being grains and not enough protein in the food, but my pets' excellent health speaks for itself.

TBH I think there are worse things someone can do with a pet then feed them not as good food. Ideally a food without tons of filler should be fed, but sometimes circumstances dont allow for that and saying someone should not own dogs because maybe they lost their job or are going through rough times is ludicrous and mean.

Enigma wrote:Another thing to mention, not all dogs do well on high protein foods that are considered the highest quality. My Jaka could never handle rich foods like that, they always gave him gas and soft stools. But he does perfectly fine with medium/good quality rice based foods, right now he's eating Dog Lovers Gold and he does fantastic on it, probably the best he ever did on any other food. The same goes for my mom's dogs (who are highly allergic to wheat), they are on the same food and do great on it, but grain free foods gave them diarrhea. The only dog out of four who can handle high protein grain free foods is Brina, she's usually on Acana Pacifica, but since she's the laziest dog there is, she doesn't really need all that fat, in winter months when she's really doing nothing else than sleeping, I have to switch her to Acana Light&Fit otherwise she gains weight.

I think everybody should feed the food their dog does best on and do their best to avoid the really crappy foods. There are many websites that help you understand which foods are great, good, medium or bad quality: